Spirit of the Jewel
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Temporarily forced to relocate once again, Takashi accepts the inevitable and moves in with a new family. On the plus side, at least this time he'll be living in a shrine. And he won't be alone... Nyanko-sensei and the little fox will be joining him. But not even Takashi could have expected this. Nyanko's past is coming back to haunt him, and Takashi is dragged along for the ride.
1. Chapter 1

Nyanko was firmly stashed in his bag as Takashi made his way up the rather long set of stairs. He could have asked the cat to fly him up, but the last thing he needed was to spark a misunderstanding due to being lazy.

As he trudged up the steps, he couldn't help but think of why he was stuck staying with yet another cousin for possibly six months at least. At least this time he was welcomed back to the house.

Touko's younger sister had fallen rather ill, and she refused to allow Takashi to stay for any length of time. Rather than argue, Natsume had offered to stay with yet another of his many cousins, as long as they could put up with his pet cat and pet fox.

The young kitsune, who had very eagerly bound himself as Takashi's ONLY shiki, was currently curled around his neck like a sort of scarf to the untrained eye. In reality, he had fallen asleep on the train ride and Takashi had allowed him to ride piggyback.

Since they were likely going to be vacant from the house for several months, Takashi had opted to go for the digital route, allowing him to finish his assignments at his leisure online rather than deal with having to use the mail system. As long as they were filled out before the month was over and turned in on a timely manner, he could stay in the same class as his friends.

Touko and Shigeru had decided to update the house a bit, as none of them would be there to hear the racket, and it was due for some upgrades anyway. Like a new stove and fridge, as the ones they had now were about to go out.

Takashi had high hopes for this family. Despite being moved around a lot because he hadn't learned to keep quiet about the ayakashi he saw during his childhood, this family belonged to a shrine.

Which meant A) youkai wouldn't be inclined to stick around and bother him as much, and B) there was a higher chance than normal that if they did show up, then someone would _believe_ him.

When he finally reached the top, he took a deep breath of relief. He did not look forward to walking up those steps every day. At least he'd get some decent exercise from it though.

"Ah! You must be Takashi-kun."

"Hai. I'm sorry to intrude on your home," he said with a polite bow.

"It's no problem. Touko explained why you'd be staying with us for a few months. We were about to go in for lunch. I'll have Kagome set an extra place for you," said his cousin. She noticed the fox and the pudgy cat face.

"This is Nyanko, and this is Rakan," said Takashi, patting Nyanko's head and gently nudging the little fox awake.

* * *

It took little time for him to settle in, and he could honestly say he felt at peace here.

Rakan seemed to thoroughly enjoy exploring the shrine grounds. Nyanko and the Higurashi's pet cat looked at each other once before ignoring the other feline.

Though Nyanko seemed on edge for some reason, and not just because he was inside a shrine. It took all of a week before Takashi found out why, and he had been about ready to study one of the strange hand-written books he found in his grandmother's things. He knew it wasn't her handwriting because it was too neat and tidy.

From what he could tell, it was a book on shikigami. It looked fairly interesting too.

"Nee-san! I think Buyo fell in the well!" said Souta. He was the youngest child, and Takashi got along fairly well with him.

"What happened?" asked Takashi.

"I was looking for Buyo to feed him, and I saw him go into the Bone Eater's Well," said Souta.

Takashi didn't like the well. He could _fell_ the youki coming off the thing, and he knew that the seals were almost ready to break. He even had Nyanko confirm it.

Rakan, curious as to what the excitement was about, bounded up to Takashi. He was so used to Nyanko that he didn't even register the kitsune sitting on his shoulders.

"I'll go in and see if I can find him. Did you wish Kagome-san a happy birthday yet?" asked Takashi. Kagome had just turned fifteen today...she was a few months younger than he was, and he was about to turn sixteen in a few months.

"I did this morning," said Souta. Like Kagome would let him forget.

Takashi barely registered Nyanko coming into the well house. This place gave his instincts a bad vibe, and he had learned to detect ayakashi that meant only harm by dint of experience.

Whatever was sealed inside meant nothing but harm.

"What's going on?" asked Kagome.

"Souta-kun said he saw Buyo entering the well house. I'm not sure that cat would come in here though... the feeling alone would keep most away," said Takashi absentmindedly.

Kagome went inside to help him look for the cat. She yelped when Buyo rubbed against her leg.

"Really Souta, why couldn't you come in yourself?" she said to her younger brother. Though she fully agreed with her cousin that the well house did have a creepy feeling to it.

Takashi barely had a chance to register something going wrong when he heard the rattling, which he had paid no attention to, become loud as the wood broke.

"Kagome, look out!"

She dropped the cat, and was dragged into the well by the ayakashi that had been sealed inside. Takashi didn't think twice. He reached in to grab her, only to be pulled in with her.

"Natsume-san! Onee-san!" shouted Souta.

* * *

 _Inside the well_...

Takashi didn't have much experience with the youkai realm, but he knew when he was passing through areas that humans shouldn't enter, unless they wanted to be spirited away.

He just didn't know the well was one of those places.

He woke up to the sound of bird chirping above, and it took him a few moments to realize what was wrong.

The well house was gone, and the sun could be seen clearly above.

" _BAKA! What were you thinking, jumping in like that?!"_ scolded Nyanko.

"EH?! Your cat talks?!" said Kagome, staring at Nyanko.

"He's not really a cat. Where are we, sensei?"

" _If this is where I think it is, we're in the distant past. Though I'm hoping I'm wrong. I really don't want to deal with_ him _back before he mellowed out,"_ said Nyanko, his eyes more shifty than normal.

"One way to find out," said Takashi, reaching for the nearest root. He was so used to stuff like this that falling into the youkai realm didn't really phase him that much anymore.

"Takashi-kun, what's going on?"

"We've fallen through the well, possibly into a realm where youkai are more prevalent. Just stick close and we might be able to find our way back," said Takashi.

Kagome took some solace in the fact her cousin wasn't even bothered by the change. He clearly knew what he was doing, so it was probably a safe bet to follow his lead for the moment.

Takashi got out of the well first, and helped Kagome out.

He took one look at their surroundings and sighed.

"I knew it. We've either fallen into an ayakashi realm, or somewhere else. Either way this isn't Tokyo anymore."

"How are you so calm?" asked Kagome.

" _Bah. The brat's been in far worse situations thanks to his meddling nature. It's not like being dragged into another realm is going to bother him_ that _much,"_ scoffed the fat "cat" on his shoulder.

"And why is there a kid on your shoulders?"

Takashi paused, then turned to look at her with an odd expression.

"You can see Rakan's true form?" he asked slowly.

"I see a kid with cosplay ears and a tail on your shoulders," she said flatly.

Takashi rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"That might be why you were targeted by that yokai earlier. If you can see Rakan for what he really is, then she might be trying to eat you," said Takashi.

"Eat me?!"

"Yokai have a habit of going after those who can See into their world. We have more power than normal people, and eating those who can See gives them more power."

" _If this is about what I think it is, it's not because she has the Sight,"_ said Nyanko.

"The Go-Shin-Boku!"

Kagome raced to a familiar sight. She knew if the Sacred Tree was here, then her house was nearby as well.

"Kagome-san, wait! She doesn't get it yet, does she?"

" _That would be a no."_

"You seem to have an idea of what's really going on. Care to explain why, sensei?" asked Takashi, following Kagome. If he heard screams, then he'd run. Right now he was going to set a brisk, but maintainable pace.

" _It's a long story, but the short answer is that I recall my father mentioning how his younger brother used to go between realms using a well near the village of an old lover."_

Takashi nearly stumbled.

"Your...father?"

" _Like I said, it's an old tale he used to mention, generally when he was drunk. He wasn't exactly fond of his half brother."_

"What sort of yokai was your father?"

" _A very old, very powerful inuyokai. If I'm right, then odds are we'll be seeing him very soon. If not, then I'll talk about it later when we're home."_

"Wonder what he'd think about you being stuck in a cat statue."

" _Likely the same way he felt about the fact I liked hanging around Reiko so much. We didn't really get along, despite the fact I was the only one of my siblings to live this long. I have to prove myself worthy before I get anything out of him,"_ said Nyanko annoyed.

Hearing voices, Takashi managed to go by the trees until he found Kagome.

Only an idiot stuck to the ground in an unfamiliar place, and odds were that the local yokai would leave him be if he made it clear he wasn't out for a fight.

Seeing the period clothing and the odd hanyou (he could tell that much at least) stuck to the tree, Nyanko made an irritated noise.

Takashi looked at the hanyou, and noticed his hair was roughly the same shade as Nyanko's fur...in his true form.

"He's your uncle, isn't he?"

" _Yes. Which means the girl is the reincarnation of a miko that sealed him up."_

"...Things are about to become hectic and migraine worthy, aren't they," said Takashi.

" _If we stick around, yes. On the plus side you'll have plenty of practice with any shikigami you make,"_ said Nyanko.

"Joy."

* * *

Kagome was officially regretting not sticking closer to Takashi now. She was betting he was rather smug about not being tied up.

She wasn't even in the miko's home for more than five minutes when someone knocked.

"Is Kagome inside? Someone mentioned a foreign girl being taken to the priestess' house," said a voice. It was Takashi, she was sure of it.

"Come in," said Kaede warily, reaching for a knife.

Takashi poked his head in.

"There you are Kagome. I told you not to run off."

"Very funny Takashi!"

"You know him?"

"Distant cousins. I did try to warn her that running off after being dragged into a well by an ayakashi was a bad idea."

"Ye sound like you have experience."

"I'm a spiritualist with yokai friends. It's not the first time a yokai has dragged me out of the realm of humanity," deadpanned Takashi.

Seeing the kitsune on his shoulders, she believed him.

"So ye were dragged here?"

"An insect ayakashi broke through an old seal and brought us here. I think she mentioned something about a jewel," said Takashi. Kaede wasn't fully relaxed, but she wasn't as wary now.

There was something about Takashi that got people to lower their defenses. A sort of aura about him that got people to trust him without realizing it.

Kaede's eye flew open wide.

"Shikon no Tama?" she inquired.

"That's sounds about right."

"This is not good. This is not good at all."

"I take it this jewel is either dangerous, or boosts the natural powers of the yokai in some way?" asked Takashi. From the way Nyanko spoke of it, he was guessing it was similar in rarity to the Book of Friends, which he thankfully had on him. Which meant yokai wouldn't hesitate to kill in order to get their claws on it.

"Ye are well versed in yokai," said Kaede in approval.

"I've had the Sight since I was a child. It's not something I enjoy talking about," said Takashi evenly.

"Wait, is that why everyone in the family calls you a 'pathological liar' and a troublemaker?" asked Kagome, eating a little bit of stew. Kaede had unbound her when Takashi came in.

Takashi leveled a flat look at her.

"Unfortunately most of our family can't see yokai, and I didn't know enough to keep quiet. When they realized I saw them, they caused no little trouble around me, so the family kept moving me around a lot," said Takashi flatly. Kagome winced, recognizing the reprimand for what it was.

Hearing a commotion outside (his ears were very sharp when he knew he was being targeted) Takashi looked.

There, outside, was the centipede youkai from earlier.

"We have company," said Takashi grimly. He looked around until he saw the white form of Nyanko. "Sensei, can you lead that thing away from the village?"

" _Brat, that thing isn't here for the Book! It's after the girl!"_ barked Nyanko. However, while he had no interest in protecting Kagome, he was interested in finding out what all the fuss was about over a silly jewel.

He allowed his true form to show, and stomped hard on Mistress Centipede.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" yelped Kagome, seeing Nyanko in all his glory.

"Nyanko-sensei," said Takashi, as if it were perfectly obvious. Seeing the massive canine toss the other demon around like it was a toy, Kaede had to wonder how powerful a spiritualist he was to order around a demon like _that_.

Mistress Centipede fled the village, heading deeper into the forest outside the village.

" _Tch. The weakling got away,"_ said Nyanko, turning back into his lucky cat form. He gave Takashi a Look. _"You owe me some daifuku brat!"_

"Hai, hai," said Takashi with ease. Nyanko was easy to deal with, so long as you were willing to bribe him appropriately. "I'll buy some once we're back in Tokyo."

" _Make a list. No telling when we'll return at this rate,"_ said the annoyed yokai.

"It's getting away!" shouted the villagers.

"It's heading into Inuyasha's forest!"

"You mean where that light is in the east?" asked Kagome, already heading there.

" _That girl is going to be even more trouble than you are brat. She has less power and even less sense,"_ said Nyanko in disgust.

"She is kind of slow when it comes to ayakashi," agreed Takashi, allowing Nyanko to jump on his back. "Rakan, you stay here in case more trouble shows up."

The young kitsune nodded, and stayed on the roof of Kaede's house. He'd rather stay and keep watch anyway.

* * *

Takashi could hear Nyanko laughing. Then again the lazy 'cat' was on his shoulder right next to his ear. It took Inuyasha five full minutes to realize that the fake cat was laughing at _him_.

"Keep laughing you stupid tanuki!" snarled the hanyou. He flexed his claws.

Takashi's lips quirked up in amusement as well.

"He might be sealed in a maneki neko statue...but at least he doesn't have to deal with smashing his face into dirt whenever someone says 'osuwari'," said Takashi.

Without warning, the beads glowed again, sending Inuyasha face first into the dirt with a loud thud.

Nyanko lost it. He laughed so hard he literally fell off Takashi's shoulder.

"What just happened?"

"I believe the blood relation between you and Kagome, combined with your naturally strong spiritual powers, allowed you to use the beads of subjugation around Inuyasha's neck," supplied Kaede helpfully.

"So all I have to do is repeat the word and send him face first into the dirt whenever he gets on my nerves?"

"It would seem so," said Kaede, openly amused and more than a little vindictive.

"I would say it's too bad I don't have a set for Nyanko, except he's easily bribed and nowhere near as high-strung as Inuyasha-san," said Takashi. That and they had moved past that point months ago.

" _You had better not find a set for me, brat,"_ said Nyanko with a hiss.

"Again, it's easier to bribe you. Besides, if I had a set like that I'd be more likely to use it on the head of the Mataoba clan," said Takashi. Nyanko snorted, but that train of thought amused him anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

Inuyasha was rather understandably cross with Kaede. He also seemed highly confused by Nyanko's scent, since he was in a _cat_ body, yet he smelled a lot like Inuyasha did.

"Natsume!"

Rakan practically bowled him over. Takashi managed to stay upright, barely.

"Easy, Rakan. The centipede is gone."

Rakan noticed Inuyasha, and hugged Takashi closer.

"Who's that?"

"That would be Inuyasha. Give him some time, he just woke up and is incredibly cranky."

"How long was he sleeping?" asked Rakan.

"Fifty years."

"Wow! You must have been really sleepy!" said Rakan impressed. Nyanko managed to hide his laughter behind a fake coughing fit.

Inuyasha looked ready to smack the little fox, but a look from Takashi stopped him.

Unlike Kikyo, this exorcist wouldn't hesitate to give as good as he got from the hanyou.

* * *

Takashi was on one of the branches in a nearby tree when Inuyasha found him. He was borrowing one of the clothes Kaede had for male priests...which wasn't all that different from the ones she had, just with blue instead of red. He also borrowed some of her archery equipment, since he was a decent shot. He wasn't someone who used a bow regularly, but he could at least _hit_ what he was aiming at seven times out of ten.

He was getting tired of being up close and personal with ayakashi trying to cave his head in just to get rid of them.

In his hand was the book he found in Reiko's things, and all around him were shikigami and how to use them to fend off youkai.

"Tch. Shitty priest."

"Not a priest. I'm just someone unlucky enough to be targeted by youkai at a young age. I'm just borrowing these," said Takashi without looking up.

Inuyasha jumped and managed to settle on an opposing branch. He glared at Takashi.

"Hmph. No matter how I look at it, you're more competent than Kagome," he said.

"No arguments from me. I warned her this wasn't her home, and she _still_ ran off to the tree because it looked familiar. She doesn't know the rules of being in an ayakashi realm...or the past apparently," said Takashi, still not looking up.

"Tch. She looks like Kikyo, but she's more careless."

"To be fair, the warring states era ended centuries ago, and she hasn't had to fight for her life before. Think of her as a simple minded villager from a rural province that's protected by a barrier from ayakashi and is too out of the way to be bothered by bandits," said Takashi helpfully.

"HEY! Who are you calling simple minded!" shouted Kagome.

"Of course she heard that part. Here to get away from your adoring fans?" asked Takashi, finally closing his book. He had noticed the vegetables over the lip.

Kagome growled, but tossed a fruit at him.

He caught it, and made his way down. He was so used to running from ayakashi that the drop didn't even faze him.

"Definitely more competent," snorted Inuyasha.

"What's with the outfit?"

"Drawing attention to yourself can get you killed, but considering you're a girl, just walking out of the village proper without a boy with you is even worse. Not to mention I heard there were bandits in the area," said Takashi.

"What were you reading?"

"A book I found in my grandmother's things. From what I can tell it's about shikigami and how to make them."

"Shikigami?"

"Shikigami are disposable servants for spiritualists, exorcists and the odd priest. Generally they're made of paper."

"Really?"

Takashi reached into his bag and pulled out some cheap origami paper. His deft hands soon had a paper crane made of light blue paper.

"Hey, you're not going to make one _now_ are you?" said Inuyasha.

"No, but having one ready never hurts. Besides, this particular one needs blood to activate," said Takashi.

That and the moment it was released, it had a bad habit of attacking indiscriminately unless aimed.

"What sort of paper demon requires origami to work?"

"The kind tied to a specific set of spirits. I still have no idea why the this set only summons wagtails," said Takashi. Or why each one required a different colored paper and a specific name to summon.

* * *

Takashi couldn't keep pace with Inuyasha, so instead he rode Nyanko.

Nyanko was not in a good mood, likely because of the trouble Kagome caused with her recklessness. At least Takashi had some sense, but then again he knew better than to wander off alone!

" _Where's the fox brat?"_

"He's with Inuyasha. I guess the hanyou warmed up to him over something while I was asleep," said Takashi.

Rakan and Inuyasha had come to some sort of strange truce he wasn't going to ask about. All he knew was that the half demon liked the little fox a lot more than he did Kagome, and wouldn't hurt him.

" _That girl is too reckless. If this continues I'm not going to bother helping you save her sorry ass unless you do some serious bribing!"_

"She needs to realize this isn't a dream, and that she'll get killed if she doesn't shape up. I'm not going to shield her next time," said Takashi annoyed. If Kagome got too dependent on Takashi to protect her, then she'd never learn anything.

Besides, he didn't like the fact he had to keep rescuing his cousin from the mess she made with the ayakashi. No one had protected him, and he managed on his own just fine.

Nyanko's nose turned upward.

" _The scent has changed. The smell of death is stronger. Too strong. Unless something got it's hands on that stupid rock."_

They nearly ran into the corpse crow.

"Follow it! It ate the jewel!" shouted Inuyasha carrying Rakan and Kagome both. It barely slowed him down, he was so mad.

Takashi and Nyanko changed course, but Nyanko quickly grew bored after Inuyasha slowed the demon down enough for him to land a hit.

Even with the jewel, it was too weak to be of any real interest to him.

He did wait for Takashi to launch himself off his back before he switched back to his maneki neko form though. The punch connected rather solidly, and Takashi ignored the disgusting sensation of the bird under his fist.

"Nice one, Natsume!" said Inuyasha. He was quick to follow through.

Kagome looked somewhat miffed.

"Why does he call you by name and not me?" she asked him.

"It has to do with the level of respect," said Takashi. Kagome bristled. He could tell she would be difficult to be around for _days_ once he explained things to her. Seeing her snatch his bow and arrows and try to kill the demon to earn some respect from Inuyasha and Takashi, he winced at the bright light.

Something hit him in the eyes...again...and he noticed something hitting Nyanko and Rakan.

"Ow."

He rubbed his eyes absently, but otherwise the annoyance went away.

* * *

 _Half an hour of searching later..._

"Where is it woman?!" said Inuyasha irate. Takashi had long since covered Rakan's ears after the first expletive left the hanyou's mouth.

Rakan was going to pick it up eventually, but he'd be damned if the fox picked it up today.

Seeing the remnant of the now dead crow attack, Takashi absentmindedly smashed it into the ground. It wasn't until Kagome picked up a pink shard of _something_ that he had a horrible premonition of things to come.

"Uh... I think this is it."

"What is?"

"Please for the love of all kami in existence tell me you didn't..." started Takashi.

"I think this is a shard...of the Shikon no Tama," said Kagome sheepishly.

Takashi groaned audibly and Inuyasha started swearing loudly.

"Dammit girl, what part of _'stay out of it until you've had some training'_ do you not get?!" shouted Inuyasha loudly.

Kagome's skills at archery sucked. Badly. Takashi was barely acceptable, but he was still better than her.

Takashi looked very much like he wanted to start hitting his head against one of the nearby trees. Repeatedly.

* * *

" _Are you aware your spiritual energy spiked during that light show brat?"_ asked Nyanko.

"Likely because I was hit with some of the shards," deadpanned Takashi. "You and Rakan were hit with a few as well."

Nyanko waited for Takashi to cover Rakan's ears before he started swearing the air blue. Inuyasha poked his head around the tree he was sitting on. Like Takashi, he had a habit of sitting in high places. His eyes were wide, but there was clearly some respect in them.

"I didn't know half of that was anatomically possible, or that there were that many words to describe it," he informed the fake cat.

" _Anything's possible if you're willing to get creative,"_ was Nyanko's immediate retort.

"So you're not spying on Kagome?" said Takashi.

"I ain't suicidal. That girl's a total shrew, I can just tell," scoffed Inuyasha. Besides, Rakan was playing nearby. He'd make a racket if anything came too close.

Inuyasha had quickly grown close to the little fox for one simple reason.

Both of them had lost their mothers at an early age, but unlike Inuyasha, Rakan had gotten lucky. Takashi had found him relatively quickly and had taken him in. Inuyasha knew he was jealous of Rakan, but he was too embarrassed to admit the real reason why.

The hanyou blinked when he felt someone's hand gently rubbed his head.

"What's that for, idiot?"

"You looked like you needed a friend," said Takashi.

Nyanko had mentioned Inuyasha's life had been rough because his mother died, and no one took him in. There was no pity in Natsume's eyes, which was the only reason Inuyasha didn't deck him for it.

"If you need someone to just talk to, I'm all ears."

" _You're meddling again, brat,"_ complained Nyanko.

"Yeah, but just being there to listen isn't going to get me cursed...again."

" _True."_

"EEK!"

"That was Kagome!" said Inuyasha.

"That wasn't a terrified yelp," said Takashi.

"How can you tell?"

"Trust me, I'd recognize a terrified yelp," said Takashi.

"THIS WATER IS FREEZING!"

Takashi couldn't help it.

"Quit bitching! Be glad it's not winter yet!" he shot back. Screaming that loud because of a little cold water.

"Shut up! And get that fox to quit staring at me!"

"He's about four or five mentally. Not like he gets the attraction of a girl swimming starkers!"

"Worst. Cousin. EVER. You had better not be watching me!"

Inuyasha and Nyanko were both laughing.

Inuyasha didn't like the way Kagome looked even _more_ like Kikyo in a miko's outfit. Fortunately Takashi was there to nip that comparison in the bud.

"I'm betting Kikyo wouldn't complain nearly as much as Kagome has in the past...three days? Four?"

"Kikyo was way more refined and less whiny," admitted Inuyasha. Kagome bristled.

"I'm going home!" she said angrily.

"Just be careful when you drop into the well again. There's a trick to landing without breaking anything, and I doubt you've had the right time to learn it," Takashi shot back. So long as he visited long enough to do his homework, talk to Touko and Shigeru, and visit his friends, Takashi had no real pressing need to return _right now_.

Then again Kagome was a city girl, not someone who preferred the rural countryside like Takashi.

Takashi didn't look up from his book until he heard the surprised yelp from Kaede. Kagome had gone off to who knew where, likely the well, and Inuyasha was off taking a nap.

Until Kagome learned some responsibility and common sense, Takashi wasn't going to do more than the bare minimum to protect her.

One could say he had grown cynical, but to be fair all of this happened after he was once again forced to move in with a new family, and having it happen to him repeatedly because of the youkai who bothered him had made him rather jaded.

The fact he had trouble believing that Touko and Shigeru wouldn't cut him away like every other family that took him in as a kid didn't help either.

So yeah, he'd rather stay in the past for the moment until things settled down.

It wasn't until he heard the surprised yelp that he got up and started moving.

He knew a scared yelp from a regular yelp.

Rakan was with Kaede at the moment, and he was the source of the yelp.

What he found was chaos. The village girls were being held upright by what appeared to be strings, but upon closer inspection were revealed to be hair. Rakan had managed to push Kaede out of the way of the knife in the girl's hand, and was too small for her to effectively attack.

Nyanko was off investigating the area for good sake spots, and Inuyasha was trying to find where Kagome wandered off to. So Takashi was all alone. Fortunately, he wasn't some rookie with a gift.

He reached for his now ever-present bag and started pulling out pre-prepared papers with sigils to ward off youki. (Thank you Natori for sharing your books...)

Flaring his power, Takashi was able to break the hairs controlling the girls. They retreated rather quickly under the brunt of his assault.

"Thank you, Natsume-kun," said Kaede relieved. "These old bones can't weather attacks like they used to."

"I have an exorcist friend who knows a thing or two about barriers. I could always ask him for advice."

Though odds were he'd have to explain to Natori why he needed it...and why he was 'vacationing' in the past.

"What the hell is happening here?" demanded an annoyed Inuyasha.

"We're being attacked by a youkai with powers over hair. Likely after the jewel, and not afraid to act in public," Takashi summed up. He looked in his bag and found some basic wards. "I can put a few of these around the village, maybe create a safe zone from the youkai, but these only allow human visitors."

"I take it ye have never used them before?" said Kaede.

"I'm used to ayakashi intruding. Some of my friends are youkai, and I don't mind them intruding occasionally. Wards like these would keep them and possibly Rakan and Nyanko out."

Takashi went around the village, checked his work, before moving on. He left a single, solitary space for youkai to go through. Kaede could shoot her arrows from there with ease, even at her age.

"Let's go, Takashi," said Inuyasha.

"One of us needs to go get Kagome. I specialize in seals and binding, not purifying. Besides, she created this mess when she broke that stupid rock," said Takashi. Inuyasha's grin was vicious.


	3. Chapter 3

With Takashi holding down the fort in the village, and Inuyasha taking Kagome with him (after he confirmed she could see the hair as well), the two teams were able to complete their goals relatively quickly, with no deaths on either side.

The first thing Takashi did, after confirming Inuyasha did have a minor healing factor (enough that the wounds would be gone by morning at least), he went through the well to get a few things, and leave some behind.

It was an...interesting conversation with his exorcist friend, to say the least.

Natsume had to explain the full details of what happened to his cousin, and why he would be helping. So long as he kept his grades up and they visited once a week (courtesy of bribing Nyanko to fly them to the well) then there were no complications.

Of course that didn't compare to how his friend Natori reacted when he heard the full story.

" _So let me get this straight. Your distant cousin Kagome had the bad luck of having an amplifier hidden in her body that was ripped out by a centipede youkai. Her inexperience and the fact she's slightly stubborn resulted in her_ shattering _said jewel, small fragments of which can cause even weak youkai to stir up trouble."_

You could feel Natori pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation at this point.

" _Why does this always happen to you?"_

"If you ever find out, please let me know," deadpanned Takashi. "Anyway, this seems like an excellent way to kill time until the renovations are done, and possibly pick up a few things that have been lost. Can you imagine the Mataoba clan's reaction finding out I've collected some of the rarer texts that were lost, almost brand new?"

He could tell Natori was torn between snickering at the idea, and worried about Takashi.

" _You'd be willing to share those texts, right?"_

"Naturally."

" _Just be careful Natsume. The youkai of old are said to be more fierce than they are today."_

"I know. Nyanko said that his dad was a lot more violent in that era than he is these days."

" _...That fat fake cat?"_

"Apparently the hanyou I'll be helping is his uncle," said Takashi.

You could hear Natori choke in disbelief.

" _Seriously?"_

"Nyanko has been rather amused watching his uncle being forced to listen to a bratty human girl...or else be plowed into the ground by an enchanted rosary and the usual command people say to get dogs to sit," said Takashi amused.

" _I didn't even think his father was even alive. Youkai normally don't live past their progeny."_

"Well according to Nyanko, his father rules the youkai lands in the West, and most of his siblings were taken out by rivals or just sheer stupidity in trying to gain the title themselves. He's the only remaining 'heir' left because he never had any interest in it."

" _...I don't know what idea terrifies me more. The fact he could potentially rule a large amount of land, or the fact he had siblings."_

Takashi snickered.

"So, any ideas of what to use for the village?"

Natori gave him a list, and the books he could use to find said circles, and wished him luck.

He understood why Takashi hadn't asked him for help. The teen would have felt immensely uncomfortable about the idea of basically 'bumming' off Natori while he was out of town, even if one could consider it house sitting. Sure, it was closer to his school than where he was now, but that didn't change the fact Takashi wouldn't have felt very comfortable there at all. Never mind how Nyanko or Rakan would feel about the matter.

He would call Natori for help in a heartbeat if the man were in the country and he had an issue with the youkai, but personal favors... not so much. Takashi maintained a very strict neutrality stance between humans and youkai, and that might very well ruin it.

Nyanko meandered to Takashi.

" _What are you packing to take with you?"_

"My school books, the ones I found in Reiko's things, and this."

Nyanko gave the outfit an odd look.

" _Isn't that what you wore to fool the youkai you were one of the missing kami during that festival?"_

"It's close enough to period clothing that people won't ask, and I know I can move in it. Besides, when am I ever going to wear it in the present day era?"

" _...Point."_

At one point Takashi had taken the place of an older youkai who played the part of a kami. It was one of the cases that Natori helped him with, as the other side had no idea that the youkai in question had been sealed several years previous.

As thanks for helping them out, the minions of the youkai gave Takashi the outfit he had been wearing to play the part. Natori had gone over it and found that it had several spells woven into it that hid Takashi's human aura from most of the weaker youkai.

However, while it was a very nice gift, and very useful, the truth was that it made him stand out rather fast outside the spirit realms among humans. Teenagers these days didn't wear such elaborate kimono, let alone outfits that looked like period clothing unless they were going out for a costume party or something very formal.

He still kept it though, and had packed it because he didn't want to explain why he had it to Touko.

At least now he'd get some practical use out of the outfit. And he wouldn't have to risk explaining why he needed replacements for his school uniform.

With his things packed into a new shoulder bag (again, he didn't want to explain the replacements to Touko), Takashi went to the well. He could change in the past and keep his casual clothes for when he came to the present.

He grimaced when he saw the bike Kagome had brought with her. He was so not helping carry that thing out of the well.

And when he noticed the first-aid kit Kagome had, he had to snort.

"You do realize that minor wounds like the ones he had are likely healed by now, right?"

"He was _stabbed_. Repeatedly. I wouldn't call that minor," said Kagome hotly. Then she noticed something folded up. "What's that?"

"I'm not explaining why I need replacement sets for my school uniform when switching to something more durable makes more sense. I have enough trouble hiding the fact I deal with ayakashi from them on a near daily basis," deadpanned Takashi. "Besides, youkai, even half bloods like him, traditionally have a much better healing factor than we do. So long as he's not stabbed by a holy sword or poison, odds are he'll have healed up within a few days."

"And the thing on your back?"

"I'm going to get some practice in with my arrows. It's hard to explain to my classmates I'm learning archery for survival, not as a hobby. Besides, we don't exactly have a club for it at my school," said Takashi flatly. He did look at the first aid kit with some approval though. "But having some modern medicine and bandages is generally a good thing. So at least you're starting to think for once."

Kagome huffed.

"I still can't believe the lie you had my mother tell the school for why I'm going to be absent for days on end."

"You have a better idea? Short of pulling out, people _will_ talk, and this way you won't get held back a year or kicked out. At least this is a perfectly reasonable excuse and gives you time to do your homework in peace."

"But still, did you have to use _that_?" said Kagome in disgust.

Takashi's excuse for why Kagome had more or less pulled out of long term schooling? Female troubles. She was a bit of a late bloomer, and it wasn't that rare for puberty to hit others harder than most. And that wasn't something a teenager could get over with some pills. It gave her a perfectly reasonable excuse to avoid her friends for days on end and why she wasn't exactly seen outside the shrine.

The main reason she had such trouble with a perfectly reasonable and easily accepted excuse was because it was somewhat embarrassing. Yes, that time of the month sucked, but it wasn't debilitating like he claimed.

So long as she kept her grades up and turned her homework in on time, then the teachers would consider her a home-school student who came in for tests. Uncommon, but still a reason to keep her on the rosters.

Whether she could rejoin her class normally for next year all depended on how quickly she could clean up the mess she made with the jewel shards.

He wasn't betting on her finding them so quickly. If the one that landed in his eyes were any indication, they could be very well hidden.

"What is _that_? And why do you have something so... so..."

"Dated? Extravagant? Pretentious?" suggested Takashi.

Kagome nodded.

"It was a gift."

"It's pretty..."

"I know. And there's not really much call to wear it in our time, but in this era it won't draw nearly as much attention."

Kagome considered that, then conceded his point. Something like that wouldn't draw nearly as much attention in the warring states era outside of making people believe he was part of some noble family, but in Tokyo it would have drawn quite a few eyes.

Takashi managed to find a secluded space to change into the outfit, and neatly folded the one he had been previously wearing. With that packed, he was ready for traveling.

"Is that a new shoulder bag?"

"Again, I don't want to explain having to buy replacements, and this is bigger than the school one," said Takashi sensibly. Kagome was wearing a massive yellow backpack she most certainly didn't carry to school, so she had no room to talk. "And before you ask, I did pack school books so you can borrow mine to keep up with homework."

It didn't hurt that he was _roughly_ in the same year as she was, just in a more rural province. Kagome grimaced at the idea of studying.

* * *

Despite Takashi's lack of help (he had been discreetly changing while she manhandled the bike out of the narrow well) they were able to find Inuyasha relatively quickly. Takashi was used to running, and he still preferred keeping up with Kagome over walking up and down that massive hill with all those stairs.

Inuyasha didn't do more than give Takashi an odd look when he saw the outfit, further confirming the fact that it would still draw less attention to than the clothes Kagome was wearing. He also proved to Kagome he healed a lot faster than she assumed, when she went to treat the wounds.

However, Nyanko suddenly perked up and started growling rather ominously.

"What's wrong, sensei?"

" _He's here. I wasn't expecting him this quickly,"_ said Nyanko. His 'fur' had puffed up many times his size, as if he were preparing to turn into his true form to fight off an enemy.

"Who?" asked Kagome.

" _My sire. Not that he would recognize me, considering I won't be born for another hundred human years,"_ said the youkai, hissing. He didn't expect Sesshomaru to show up so soon.

Inuyasha didn't look happy either, though he couldn't smell anything. Except the stench of a recently dead corpse. But it was the sight that greeted him that threw him for a loop.

His mother. A woman long dead since he was a child.

Nyanko had enough. He had a feeling about why his _sire_ had shown himself now, as he could distinctly recall the story of how his uncle had gained the fang his father wanted more than the 'weak' one that he had given to his older brother.

Nyanko had no use for the Fang of Heaven either, but he still kept it. Even if it was a paltry sign from his sire that he even had a claim on the title as Lord of the West.

He sometimes considered giving it to Takashi, but the boy had no talent for blades and even less desire to learn how to use one. He was better at the bow.

Nyanko's light broke through the daze, causing the carriage to fall. The pudgy body looked ready to slam into the woman Inuyasha thought was his mother, had Takashi not intercepted him. He saw the claw heading for the falling 'woman'.

The first thing Takashi thought when he saw Madara's father was...there was definitely a family resemblance. He was more than familiar with Nyanko's true form, and even in his human guise, the youkai lord before him bore striking resemblance to the cat in his true form. The same red markings, the same regal bearing, the same silvery-white coat of fur. Even their eyes were the same, though Sesshomaru had the unmistakable feel of contempt for humans in his expression.

Madara had more of a tolerant amusement for humanity, and that the only reason he hadn't just killed Takashi and stolen the Book was purely out of boredom. Even if his initial reason for sticking around as a bodyguard had long since shifted to genuine fondness for Takashi.

It took far too long for Sesshomaru to turn his attention from his half brother to Takashi and Madara.

When he did, Madara revealed a form Takashi had never seen before.

" _Hands off, pathetic weakling. This human is my pet,"_ snarled Madara.

"Like I would care about the pets of a pathetic youkai who can't even defeat a mere _human_ ," sneered Sesshomaru. He could tell that the pudgy feline form wasn't Madara's true one, but rather one that had been sealed.

Madara was the one to sneer this time.

" _I may take this form out of amusement, but at least I am able to touch the sword you are after. The great Inu Youkai's fang is beyond even your reach, even if you do locate it's hiding place!"_ cackled Madara.

Sesshomaru barely tolerated humans, and killed without mercy. He repeatedly tried to take the sword from his half brother, but was unable to touch it without the curse affecting him.

Madara, however, could hold the sword with little difficulty because he didn't hold humans in contempt like his father. He was among the few among his siblings who could.

It was one of the many things Sesshomaru greatly disliked about his errant (and only living) son.

The battle for Tetsusaiga had only just begun...


	4. Chapter 4

"Sensei, where is this place?" asked Takashi, falling in the air before Madara caught him.

" _My grandfather's grave. I've heard about it, but never bothered to find it,"_ said Madara.

"He's massive!"

Even Misuzu wasn't this big!

Madara chuckled under Natsume.

" _I've heard that among my siblings, I've always resembled him the most. My grandsire I mean. I don't see the resemblance though,"_ said Madara.

"Why did you never go looking?"

" _I'm the middle son. Everyone knows that the middle children are just spares with no real purpose. The youngest is always the most heroic, the eldest are the ones who take over, and the middle ones are left to their own devices. So I left before I got dragged into the family squabble over who would inherit. Ironically it turned out that it was the best move I could have made, because the others killed themselves off with no help from me in the long run trying to take the title of Lord of the West,"_ explained Madara. He landed lightly on the shoulder of his grandfather, as he had no interest in watching the family drama unfold.

When his paws touched the aged metal, he could feel something thrum in his old bones. This place was out of the way, but it also thrummed for power to those who knew what to look for. His grandfather might have died long ago, but his power was still there.

Not that Madara cared to try and take it. He was perfectly content with his current lot in life. And strangely, the fact he didn't try to steal the last remaining power left in the faded bones seemed to make the thrum in his own stronger. Takashi gently touched down, and even he could feel it.

"What is that?"

" _No idea. It's not malicious though."_

Hearing the sounds of battle, Takashi took in the landscape around them.

He was still frowning.

"These remains...they almost feel sad."

" _Sad? They're just old bones, baka,"_ said Madara.

"I know that, but it's the feeling I'm getting from them. Maybe his spirit is sad that his sons are fighting over the inheritance," said Takashi, looking at the skull.

" _Whatever, it's not my problem until they try to threaten you. Let Inuyasha and his human girl settle the squabble themselves. I only came here because I followed you,"_ said Madara, settling around Takashi. The thrum was rising in intensity, and it was starting to annoy him greatly.

Then Sesshomaru broke out, and he saw the true form of Madara. Age old instincts came into play, as his demon self demanded he protect his territory from an intruder. Never mind that this was the grave of his sire, never mind about the fact he was trying to murder his half brother for a _sword_... there was a youkai of equal strength in HISterritory without permission.

Sesshomaru was many things, but ignoring such a clear and obvious threat to his power was something he refused to do.

His terrifying howl had Madara stand up and make an answering call of his own. Kagome and Inuyasha stood close to a very confused Takashi.

"What's going on? Why is he acting like that?" asked Takashi.

Inuyasha was the one supplying the answer.

"Territorial dispute. Since this is our old man's grave, Sesshomaru thinks of it as his territory, and it doesn't help he's in his true form at the moment. The fact there's a powerful youkai in 'his' territory means that his instincts demand he defend it from a potential intruder," said the hanyou. He had never had territory to call his own, so he had never developed that instinct to defend "his" territory. It didn't help he was half human either.

Takashi winced. This was not going to end well, he just knew it. Especially since Madara was clearly in the same state as his father.

Watching the two Inu Youkai clash, Takashi was suddenly reminded of why most youkai tended to show "Nyanko" such respect despite his bad habits, and why the weaker ones bowed down around him in his true form. Even Misuzu considered Nyanko his equal, and he was one of the strongest ayakashi Takashi knew.

Inuyasha whistled. He had never seen his brother put into a stalemate before. It was nice to see Sesshomaru being taken down a few pegs for a change, even if he wasn't the one doing it.

" _Enough! I've had it up to here with you!"_ roared Madara. He rose higher, so high that the sun almost blotted him out. Sesshomaru couldn't fly like Madara could, so he was unable to follow.

Gale force winds gathered around the younger demon, as they took on a sickle like quality. Takashi watched in alarm, and wished he had wings to knock some sense back into Madara. If he killed Sesshomaru _now,_ then he'd never be born!

As if in response to his distress, the thrum that had been in the background rose in response to the massive attack Madara was prepared to unleash.

It was then that he finally realized what was happening.

The remains they were so casually standing on were _resonating_ with Madara.

Takashi could only watch in shock as the winds around Madara started to die down...as he began to grow in size. His form became at least half the size of the bones they were standing on.

" _No! That's impossible! How could a mere outsider possibly..."_ roared Sesshomaru.

It was clear what was happening to Madara, despite the fact he had nothing to do with it.

Madara was somehow _absorbing_ the last remnants of the corpse that dominated the landscape. Which was only possible because he shared the bloodline.

Finally the abrupt and strange growth stopped, as did the weird humming in their bones.

"Huh. Is anyone else noticing..." asked Inuyasha, once they were over their shock.

"The weird lack of humming?" finished Takashi. It was setting his teeth on edge, to be honest. He had just grown used to the weird feeling and now suddenly it was _gone_.

The sudden shock was enough to break Sesshomaru of his current state.

He was clearly displeased with the fact that a mere _mutt_ (at least as far as he knew) had somehow manage to absorb the last remnants of his father's spiritual energy. The only reason he wasn't going to kill the dog for the affront came back to one simple fact.

The mystery youkai gave as good as he got, and he matched or countered Sesshomaru's attacks with disturbing ease.

"Jakan! We're leaving!" snarled Sesshomaru. After what happened, he was in no mood to deal with Inuyasha's stupidity. He could reclaim the sword later at his leisure.

* * *

Nyanko was irate for days and refused to answer any of Inuyasha's questions. All he would tell the hanyou was that they _were_ related by blood, but he really didn't want to know how. Mostly because it would risk the timeline and all that nonsense, but generally because he disliked talking about his family.

If it got out that he was the grandson of the great Daiyoukai and the last true heir to the Lands of the West, people might _expect_ things from him. Or worse, come after him with the intent to open up the title for themselves.

It took Takashi three days for him to get Nyanko to open up even a hint of his family life.

" _I'm the fourth son of the family, and I left the second I realized that if I stuck around I'd be dragged into the squabble over who's inherit our father's title and lands. Since he had eight children and I was one of the middle ones, he allowed me to go unharmed. Last I heard from him, I was the only one left,"_ said Nyanko, irritable and chowing down on steamed buns.

"That's awful," said Kagome.

"Not really. If he's the middle son it makes sense to let him go off and possibly make a name for himself...and the smart ones usually last well enough on their own. I take it the others were killed off by rival youkai?"

" _Or they pissed off our father by being too full of themselves and attempted to take the title before they were fully ready. Ironically out of all my siblings, I was the one who took after our paternal grandfather the strongest, a fact that my father was quick to note. I'm not going to bother trying for the title though. I happen to like my current conditions."_

"You're trapped in a lucky cat statue. How could you possibly like being stuck in that?" asked Kagome.

" _I could get out of this at any time, but I find my human pet most amusing. Besides, if I use Takashi's Book I would stand a far better chance at taking the title from my father, because I'd have an army behind me."_

"Sensei!"

" _You've seen him. Can you honestly say you'd be comfortable fighting him for such a lofty title without some damn good back up?"_ said Nyanko.

"...I hate it when you prove a point. I'm still going to get rid of it before I die though."

" _Just save the really strong ones like Misuzu for last, brat. I have no idea why Reiko bothered with so many weaklings,"_ said Nyanko.

"So what was the deal with the fact you absorbed my old man's power?" asked Inuyasha.

Nyanko became slightly shifty.

" _My only guess is that whatever was left of his spirit in those old bones was displeased with the fact you and Sesshomaru were fighting, so he gave it to the one descendant who wasn't involved outside of a minor territorial dispute with his oldest son and had no actual interest in arguing over the inheritance like you two were."_

"It makes sense... I wouldn't be happy about any future kids I might have fighting over anything I left them either," said Kagome.

It was the perfect way to settle the dispute without favoring either side. Give it to the one party not involved.

" _Either that or I simply resonated with the bones to the point that it went into the nearest possible vessel. Like I said before, I favored my grandsire far more than any of my siblings."_

Nyanko was somewhat younger than his grandfather was before his death. The power boost put him almost at the level his grandfather was at his age. If he really put in the effort, he could achieve it.

But he was a lazy dog, and he preferred the quieter life around Takashi. The weaker youkai he faced around the kid was more than enough excitement for him...if he became Lord of the West he'd have no end of headaches.

Let Sesshomaru deal with that crap until he got bored enough that he even considered it an option.

"So where are we going now?"

"Well I overheard from some of the bird youkai in the area that the Thunder brothers have a few shards,"offered Takashi.

Inuyasha stared at him.

"You haven't even been here a month, and you already have contacts?"

Takashi took out a rather strange mask, and slid it on.

" _Can you tell I'm a human with this on?"_ he asked.

Inuyasha sniffed. There was a strange sort of power around the kid now, and it was difficult to tell if he was human or youkai.

"What the hell is that?"

"I got it as a gift for helping another youkai. As long as I'm wearing this, no one can tell if I'm a youkai or a human. I just never bothered with it because the youkai in my time generally know I'm more likely to at least listen to them because of the reputation attached to my family name."

Kagome stared at him.

"Reputation?"

" _His grandmother was a great beauty, but there's no mistake in that she was also a bit of a bully. She used to challenge random youkai she met in simple games and if they lost she forced them to be her subordinates. Takashi just happens to look like a male version of his grandmother, and those she beat have been harassing him for_ years _because of it. It's only recently he took a proactive approach and started gaining a reputation of his own."_

Unspoken was the fact that if and when Takashi had children, and they inherited the Sight as well, that it was quite possible he could start up an Exorcist or Spiritualist line.

"So, we track down the Thunder brothers then?" said Takashi changing the subject.

"Let's get going then," said Inuyasha.

* * *

Takashi found him highly amused by the childish Shippo, who reminded him strongly of a slightly older, more cynical version of Rakan. The fact that Rakan promptly took to his fellow kitsune (surprising the fox child seeing someone roughly his own 'age') was something he enjoyed watching.

The fact Shippo mostly wanted the jewel shards to avenge his father, however, wasn't amusing in the least. It looked like he would get a chance to use his shikigami for once.

"I know that look. What are you planning Takashi?" asked Inuyasha.

"Just wondering how these thunder brothers would react to being attacked by paper birds."

Inuyasha grinned viciously.

"Get to folding! I've been wanting to see what those things can do since you mentioned them!"

Takashi had a lot of practice making cranes by now. Or at least bird shape.

The Thunder brothers were in for a nasty surprise...and Takashi's life was about to become much more complicated once he found out the true power of the summoning technique he had found by accident.

There was a reason why Reiko had never used these particular shikigami after the first time she summoned one.

For some reason the first thing that came to mind when he folded the birds wasn't a wagtail, but the tiny bird he had summoned to deal with the five-day mark. He still remembered the incantation for it too.

And for some reason the incantation to summon the wagtail was getting mixed up with that one in his head. He had no idea what mixing them would do.

But he was about to find out.


End file.
